Health Information: MRI and Breast Cancer
Today’s health information topic covers the importance of breast cancer screening
The American Cancer Society has set new guidelines for females who are at high risk of developing breast cancer. A recent study states that women who are at high risk of developing breast cancer should recieve annual MRI’s or Magnetic Resonance Imaging as well as mammograms to detect early signs of breast cancer. These guidelines also apply to those women who have been newly diagnosed with breast cancer.
Individuals who are considered to be at high risk of developing breast cancer would have one of the following:
- strong family history of two or more close relatives that have developed breast or ovarian cancer before the age of 50.
- individuals who have been treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
- women of age 30 and older, who have an alteration in the genes BRCA1 or BRCA2.
The American Cancer Society estimates that 1.4 million women could fall into the high risk group. MRIs are able to visualize abnormal or increased blood flow to the breast through the use of radio waves and a strong magnetic field. MRIs are more expensive than mammograms. The best part about an MRI is the fact that this test is noninvasive.
This study followed 1,000 women at the University of Washington Medical Center, who were newly diagnosed with breast cancer in one breast only. Through the use of MRIs, 121 women had “possible” tumors in the second breast. Breast biopsies proved that 30 of these women had cancer in the second breast as well, yielding a 3% improvement in detection of breast cancer in the second breast.
Now the only question left remaining is, can the American Cancer Society persuade the government to add MRIs as part of a recommended guideline? If this is possible, then ALL health insurance companies would have to cover the cost of the MRI.
